Still on Marketing!

Thank you to all of you who sent me messages about last weeks blog featuring the personalised and hand made hi -vis jackets.  It was great to see your appreciation of cousin Helen’s creative flair and embroidery skills.  

The hi-vis jacket on the road

I took on board your enthusiasm and the hi-vis jacket has been ‘on the road'. Here it is on the back of a very special and beautiful chair.  All will be revealed in the forthcoming Offshoot series but I promise you, you will be as amazed as I was, when I share more about this chair and how it has come to be.
And I’m still of course open to any and all offers to help market the podcast.  Eduardo - I will be sending you some postcards to share with friends -thanks.

Chat GPT

I did as promised ask Chat GPT to help with an Our Plant Stories marketing plan.  If you haven’t used Chat GPT let me explain that you ask a question and within about 5 seconds it spews out a long answer.  It uses words and phrasesw like absolutely, I’ll assume and before tactics, be clear on what “success” looks like…. then tells you these are the things you should do - update the media page on website, make a trailer, write to these gardening journalists, approach these garden podcasts, finish the first couple of episodes so you can send them - somewhere…in case someone will review them but ps these people have long lead times.

It will then ask you another question - would you like me to: find more marketing ideas, summarise these ones into a daily or weekly plan?

I’ve spent my life asking questions so before long we are in a back and forth - me and the bot.  Before you know there are 32 pages of marketing advice!  The bot asks if I would like it to summarise - YES PLEASE.  Another 10 pages later and I decide it is time to terminate the conversation. 

The technology

To be honest your presenter/producer did not have the best of days yesterday.   I thought it wise to start Thursday with a look at the bots advice and calculated there are 20 days to putting out the first episode of series 4.

‘Complete the first couple of episodes’ was top advice - both the bot and I agreed on that.  And it was all going well till the editing programme crashed and I got the wheel of doom. Anyone who knows that small coloured wheel that whirls on your screen and refuses to leave whatever you do (bar shutting it all down) will know the sinking feeling as your work disappears. All was not lost but a couple or more hours of work was. 

Added to this The Podcaster’s Friend - their microphone (remember the story of the cat litter!) has disconnected from the lap top and is currently resolutely refusing to rejoin me.  Dion if you are reading this in San Diego- I think I need your help! 

Clearly in the grand scheme of life it doesn’t matter if the first episode doesn’t go out on the 10th February - the audience isn’t waiting for it to be there when they wake up and have breakfast.  But when for your whole career whether working for a small or big radio station, you have been taught that programmes must be delivered on time to be ‘played out’ it’s a hard habit to break.  

I’m reminded of my first job at BBC Radio Merseyside.  There was a legendary producer/presenter called Bob Azurdia.  He made a wide range of programmes; features, conversations, quiz shows.

I was a very new and hence slightly nervous Programme Manager.  Of an evening the job involved putting out the programmes, mostly on quarter inch tape, between 6.30pm and 10.00pm.  New to the job I began the shift by checking the tape cupboard.  All was present and correct except for Bob’s programme.  So I went in search of him!  The following week,  Bob had put the tape box in - but it was empty.  The week after a tape box containing a tape but the wrong programme!

I then discovered that when making the quiz programme, going out that night, Bob would be editing the second half while the first half went out. So what am I worried about!

Even writing this I find myself smiling.  And as Andrew always says - tomorrow is another day.  I will save after every edit, we will take the laptop to the Apple Store (the strange flashing lights on the toolbar are unusual) and hopefully I’ll contact Dion.

And as for Chat GPT and its marketing plan.. well it doesn’t know about my secret weapon the Our Plant Stories hi-vis jacket and if all else fails I will just start wearing that wherever I go!

A Bonus Clip

Finally I thought I’d share this clip from the episode I have been editing today (it didn’t disappear) these are the lovely and talented designers Kate, Sally and Will who together form the: Planting Design Collective. They are working on The Missing Collector garden for the charity Plant Heritage at the Chelsea Flower show in May.   We’ll be following the journey of this garden over the first few months of the new series, via the Offshoots.

Hear how they value working as a team, how they make decisions and how Sally is not bitter about that plant…much!

Have a lovely weekend

Sally

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